Chapter 154: High-Dimensional Symposium (Part IV)

A college student pressed the microphone button and said, "Both professors' insights are extremely valuable. I've learned a lot, and let me try to synthesize them."

"First of all, as for whether this dimension truly exists, there is currently no evidence whatsoever. It has only been deduced from the conclusions of mathematical formulas that higher dimensions exist in our world."

"However, just like the professor's example earlier, using perspective on a two-dimensional plane to create the illusion of depth—this effect can only be 'perceived' by us in the third dimension. In the eyes of a two-dimensional being, these are still just lines, devoid of any meaning."

"Therefore, I believe that similarly, in our three-dimensional space, we can perceive the existence of time. But this time might not be what we think it is. Viewed from a four-dimensional perspective, 'time' is definitely much more than what we perceive it to be."

"In principle, length, width, height, and time—using these four parameters, a person's entire life can be precisely located and recorded. But the time here, in a sense, I believe is merely a 'manifestation' of a higher-dimensional 'time' within our dimension, not the entirety of it."

"This is why certain physicists believe that time is irreversible and that time travel is forever impossible, because we, existing in our current dimension, cannot peer into the entirety of time."

His viewpoint won the approval of quite a few people, and another person immediately followed up to share their thoughts.

"If that's the case, we have the opportunity to explain many theories concerning time paradoxes. Just as a two-dimensional being sees only lines and cannot comprehend so-called 'perspective'."

"What we call time is merely the manifestation of some 'entity' from a higher dimension within our three-dimensional world. To us, this entity is absolutely irreversible, and the existence of paradoxes conversely suggests that there might genuinely be dimensions above the fourth dimension in this world."

"I have had the privilege of reading a book whose core idea posits that our universe exists in the form of three dimensions within a five-dimensional world, and the existence of a higher dimension represents a consciousness."

"Quantum mechanics has a corollary when solving the problem of indeterminacy: that the universe possesses consciousness. Yet this so-called universal consciousness has never been discovered by anyone. Therefore, I boldly speculate: does such a universal consciousness exist in a higher-dimensional space?"

"In other words, perhaps everything we do is completely exposed before beings in the four-dimensional or even higher dimensions. Much like watching a movie or reading a comic, they can freely fast-forward and rewind, viewing the life of each of us and all things in the universe at a glance."

"This is also the result of much divergent thinking, leading to the belief that we live in an observable virtual world."

This person's thoughts were extremely interesting, and Xiao Kaitian crossed his legs with growing interest.

A theologian took over the conversation: "The insights just shared by this student carry a strong theological flavor. In the early foundational cultures of various ethnic groups around the world, the existence of deities is universally present. Researchers believe this stems from fear and worship of nature."

"Yet, looking at it from another angle, perhaps at the dawn of civilization, we actually came into contact with higher-dimensional existences. These beings were completely incomprehensible to the people of that era, so they became the gods in the eyes of our ancestors, and the events described in mythological legends might actually have been real."

"Alternatively, it could be that certain individuals among our ancestors touched upon higher-dimensional powers, eventually ascending to higher dimensions and becoming the gods worshipped by the masses."

"In history, such sudden disappearances of people, or the sudden appearance of individuals unsuited to their eras—such records exist in the histories of nations all over the world, but they lack strict evidence and cannot serve as orthodox history, surviving only in minor biographies or among common folk."

"In the eyes of us theologians, higher-dimensional existences being equivalent to gods actually becomes an easier concept to understand."

A web novelist spoke next: "Gods being equivalent to higher-dimensional existences—this is indeed worth discussing. There is no shortage of descriptions concerning immortals and deities in literature, but upon careful analysis, they all lack a certain depth. The worldview of such novels can hardly hold up in reality."

"Therefore, I believe that if immortals truly exist, their world must undoubtedly be different from what we imagine, including their social structures, interpersonal relationships, and so on. This is precisely why most web novels do not rigorously delve into it; we simply do not know what kind of world it truly is."

"As a result, many similar novels seem to me to be merely upgraded versions of martial arts stories, where people who once merely threw punches simply have their skills upgraded to spells, and nothing more."

"If this is a valid direction for discussion, we will stumble upon a very interesting topic: how to enter the higher-dimensional world."

At this point, there was another wave of whispering among the audience. The professor who had spoken second took over the conversation, explaining with a smile: "Let me use a popular analogy to understand the concept of dimensional ascension."

"Let's assume a stick figure appears before us. We can observe it, but it remains completely unaware of our existence. The question is: if we physically pick it up and place it into a three-dimensional space, can we imagine whether it has become a three-dimensional biological entity?"

"The answer is no. It remains a stick figure, and even in three-dimensional space, it can only cling to any two of those dimensions, existing and moving dependently, without ever becoming a true three-dimensional person."

"Extrapolating from this, four-dimensional beings can likewise observe our existence and toss us into 'four-dimensional space', yet we still wouldn't be able to fully perceive the 'fourth dimension', because for that space, the fundamental essence of our physical entity remains three-dimensional."

"Therefore, this involves a crucial step: to ascend dimensions, one must first imbue the physical body with the power of the next dimension. Only then does dimensional ascension have any meaning."

"Assuming the power of our next dimension is what we call time, this is a mandatory prerequisite for dimensional ascension. Otherwise, even if you were forcibly thrust into four-dimensional space, you might see very bizarre things, yet remain completely incapable of cognitive comprehension."

"Theology posits that upon death, people see heaven and hell. Looking at it from another perspective, this might simply be the moment of death when the spiritual body breaks free from the shackles of the physical form, perceiving the existence of higher-dimensional space in that very instant."

"Or perhaps, the probability of us entering higher dimensions actually increases after death. Or we might speculate that heaven and hell are simply the existence of higher-dimensional spaces."

His speech won rounds of applause from many present, and even Xiao Kaitian nodded repeatedly.

One had to admit that this kind of open discussion, mixed with a hodgepodge of wild and unconstrained "random guesses," stripped away from rigorous scientific academia, could sometimes be even closer to the truth.

For example, the universal consciousness mentioned by someone earlier—part of what he said was actually correct. The ultimate universal consciousness originates from the central axis universe world, a truth that Xiao Kaitian understood.

Knowing it, however, was one thing; he couldn't voice it. After all, it was far too terrifying and impossible to prove.

The greatest harvest from this discussion was absorbing several perspectives on dimensional ascension. For himself, ascending dimensions was not a major issue, but taking Bailian and Zhao Qixi along with him would require other methods.

And this was precisely the purpose for which he had convened this discussion.